Renting a car in Seminyak Bali

Tuesday morning in Seminyak, there were plenty of car rental places with cars. I walked over to a place I’ve used before, Bali Puspa, on Jl. Dhyana Pura, and pointed to the Suzuki Katana in the curb. “I’ll take that thing.” I said. The owner said, “Okay, normally 90,000rp, but I give to you for 85,000rp.” “No way, I said, “How about 65,000rp?” “Okay 70,000rp.” said the guy. It pays to negotiate in Bali.

This had to be the fastest I’ve ever rented a car. I forget my license, the owner forgot the ‘damage report’ form and said, “Okay I know you, just sign here.” which I did. He had the cash and I got the keys in about 2 minutes flat. I asked him if he ever had problems with people not returning the car, seeing as how he didn’t always ask for ID, or a credit card. He said that a couple of times foreigners had rented the car for a few days, then called to extend by a week, he finding his car at the airport 10 days later. He also said he has to very careful of Indonesians renting the cars and driving them somewhere else in Indonesia for keeps.

The Suzuki was empty on petrol, so I quickly chucked in 6 bottles from a street vendor for 30,000rp and was on my way.